More Than Anything
by howbarneymetrobin
Summary: Barney and Robin hooking up for the first time, around season 4. Just a different way things could have played out if the ending of Sandcastles in the Sand hadn't happened and Barney still developed feelings for her.


Robin awoke slowly, realising it was morning. As she stretched a little and rolled over to get a few more minutes sleep before she had to get up and face her hangover, the events of the previous flooded into her mind. She looked to the other side of the bed, where she hoped he wouldn't still be. Yet with her misfortune, Barney Stinson was definitely still in her bed. _Oh great. _

_The previous night_  
"Well I think we might head off guys, it's getting late," Marshall said to the group as he and Lily began to stand up. MacLaren's bar downstairs had been quite crowded so the five friends decided to just hang out in Ted and Robin's apartment instead.  
"Come on, it's only midnight," Barney exclaimed. "Whatever... you guys are lame."  
Marshall and Lily ignored him and said goodnight to the others as they left.  
"Yeah, I think I'll go to bed too," Ted said as he swallowed the last sip of his beer. "Besides, I've got that date with Emily in the morning, meeting her for brunch."  
"Ooh second date, told her you love her yet?" Barney teased.  
Robin joined in, "It must be time to start thinking about proposing soon, right?"  
"Ha, ha. Very funny. Goodnight guys," he replied as he walked to his room and closed the door.

Silence filled the room for a few moments, then Barney was the first to speak.  
"You know, sometimes I seriously think he's still in love with you."  
Robin let out a small laugh, "What?"  
"Like, I don't think he ever completely got over you, and I doubt he ever will honestly."  
"Barney, come on, Ted and I broke up over a year ago. He's dated so many girls since then, he's totally over it. No one takes that long to get over someone," she argued.  
"I can imagine Ted would. I don't know, it's just the way I see him looking at you sometimes, and how he would do absolutely anything for you." For a moment there seemed to be slight disappointment in his words, even though he was sort of smiling. Robin didn't respond. She looked down at the empty bottle of beer in her hands thought about what he said for a moment then looked back at him, trying to think of something else to talk about. She noticed Barney had been staring at her. It was in a way that he was almost smiling, in a way that he seemed really intrigued by her.

Robin was feeling almost drunk now so it was probably the alcohol talking, but she couldn't help thinking that in this moment Barney was suddenly so attractive. The way that he was staring at her caused the idea of kissing him and then even sleeping with him briefly pop into her mind. But just as quickly, the consequences also ran through her head. She agreed to not ever let herself think of that again. _Don't even go there, Scherbatsky._  
Why was he still staring at her in that cute - _dammit_ - weird way?  
"What?" she giggled.  
"Nothing" he said, smirking slightly as looked away.  
Robin stood up and walked toward the kitchen. "You want one more beer?"  
"Uh, yeah I'll have one," he answered.

Robin opened the refrigerator and grabbed two bottles from the last six-pack. She spun around to walk back to the living room and practically jumped out of her skin to find barney standing right in the doorway, with not much more than a foot between them. She was lucky to have not dropped the bottles because they had been so close to falling out of her hands.  
"Oh my god Barney, you scared the hell out of me!" she exclaimed.  
He stared at Robin with that look on his face again, not moving out of her way.  
"Seriously, wha-"  
Barney cut her off when he grabbed her face and pulled her close, pressing his lips strongly against hers. After what felt like ages but was most likely about five seconds, Robin pulled away. She couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened and didn't know how to react. He waited for the _what the hell are doing, Barney?_ He had expected her to think that it was a bad idea but he wanted to at least try. He had been wanting this to happen for so long, but dreaded this part. The part where she gets mad at him or asks him to leave. It was killing him already - why couldn't she just say something? After a long hesitation, Robin placed the beer on the kitchen bench before suddenly wrapping her arms around Barney's neck and kissing him back.

Robin felt as if she melted into him. This felt so right, _which is probably very bad_, she thought. Barney kissed her so passionately, it felt amazing and it had her questioning why they had never done this before. He had his hand on the back of her head, trying to pull her as close as possible. He didn't want to let her go. He wanted more than anything for this to never stop. Barney began leading her out of the doorway as they still desperately clung to each other, with Robin's hands caressing his neck. When they reached the living room, the two of them fell onto the couch. Barney landed on top of her and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Between kisses, Robin whispered, "Bedroom?"  
"What's wrong with here?" Barney breathlessly whispered back. He didn't want to wait any longer. He thought he had convinced her the couch was fine, but after a few more long kisses she said, "what if Ted comes out?"  
Barney doubted that Ted would come out, he was asleep in bed. But the thought of risking it, and Ted seeing this, scared him. Barney knew he shouldn't be doing this, but it was too late to stop now and he didn't want his best friend walking in on him with Robin. He couldn't bring himself to imagine how badly that would turn out.  
"Okay," he gave in.  
As they separated Barney realised how much he hated not kissing her, that it had stopped. He felt as if he missed her, even though she was right there holding his hand leading him to her bedroom. He felt as if he needed her, needed her to wrap her arms and legs around him again and never let go as if she needed him too.

_Present_  
Robin was contemplating sneaking out, but then realised this was her apartment so that probably wouldn't work. She didn't want to wake him up and have to face this awkward situation she had gotten herself into. It was probably going to be impossible to avoid anyway - even if she somehow managed to escape an awkward conversation with him this morning, they would have to talk eventually. Barney lay there still in a deep sleep, and Robin continued to stare at him. His arm was draped over his body and his head on the pillow was turned toward her. She watched as his naked chest slowly rose and fell with each breath.  
As she watched him, he began to stir. Robin panicked, hoping he wouldn't wake up yet or realise that she had been watching him sleep. Barney turned his head and she noticed his eyelids flutter for a second. When he opened his eyes it looked like it took him a little while to figure out his surroundings. He soon realised where he was as his eyes fell on the girl in bed with him. Barney was rubbing his eyes, still trying to wake up.  
All he said was "Hey," as he smiled at her.


End file.
